Both travaler and artist, Paul Jacoulet, brought up amid the arts of Japan, produced a remarkably original body of work. Arriving in Japan in early boyhood, he was to live his entire life in the country, devoting himself first to painting and then to the art of the print (ukiyo-e).
Permeated by a humanist outlook towards the social groups he encountered, Jacoulet drew inspiration from his frequent journeys through East Asia and the South Seas. Today, this keen interest in local culture adds historical interest to the intrinsic artistic value of his works.
This exhibition will bring together a hundred or so exceptional drawings, sketches and prints from the donation made to the museum by Thérèse Inagaki, the artist's adopted daughter. A set of woodblocks used for the preparation of prints, old photographs from the museum collections as well as major French public collections and multimedia programmes specially produced for the exhibition will complete this presentation.
- Exhibition curator: Mr. Christian Polak, Doctor of Law, expert in Franco-Japanese history and relations, expert in the works of Paul Jacoulet
- Scientific advisers: Mrs Sarah Ligner, Mrs Sarah Ligner, Curator and Head of the Heritage Unit for Historical and Contemporary Globalisation at the musée du quai Branly - Jacques Chirac ; Mr. Kiyoko Sawatari, Researcher at the Yokohama Museum of Art, Japan, specialising in the works of Paul Jacoulet ; Mr. Sébastien Galliot, expert in tattooing in Micronesia
- Number of works: 100
- Surface area required: 300 m²
- Catalogue of the exhibition available (352 pages, Co-published by musée du quai Branly - Jacques Chirac - Somogy 2012)
This exhibition has been presented at:
- Carré Plantagenêt – Musée d’archéologie et d’histoire de la Ville du Mans, France, from October 12th 2018 to January 13rd 2019
- Musée de Tahiti et des Iles – Te Fare Manaha, Tahiti, from September 7th to December 10th 2017
- musée du quai Branly – Jacques Chirac, from February 26th to May 19th 2013
